City feels the O-mentum

With favorite son Barack Obama's election as the nation's 44th president, Chicago's place on the political power ladder is now only one rung below Washington's. The western White House is in Hyde Park. And a number of Chicagoans  Rahm Emanuel, Valerie Jarrett, David Axelrod, John Podesta and Desiree Rogers among them  are going along for the ride as the Obamas head to the nation's capital.

Mr. Obama's victory put a spring in the step of many Chicagoans. The city hung banners celebrating the historic election and civic leaders looked forward to capitalizing on the opportunity to bask in the global spotlight for at least four years.

While many city leaders seemed solidly unified behind Mr. Obama in the latter part of the year, it wasn't always that way. Earlier in the election season, local Democrats' loyalties were divided between Mr. Obama and another U.S. senator with Chicago connections, Hillary Clinton. Both campaigns competed fiercely in the primaries for hometown support. Chicago's Penny Pritzker, for instance, was the Obama campaign's national finance chair. Her brother, J. B. Pritzker, was a national co-chair for the Clinton campaign  that is, until the primaries were over and he threw his support Mr. Obama's way.

Divisions like those were a distant memory on Nov. 4, however. The jubilant Election Night gathering in Grant Park, in which an estimated 250,000 people crowded into the city's front yard to hear Mr. Obama's victory speech, beamed a positive image of Chicago to a worldwide audience.

"I'm certain the victory . . . will help us become a figure in global politics. People from around the world are paying attention, and it's great for the city's reputation."

U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill.

"I think the world saw how beautiful the city looked on Election Night, and that kind of exposure will only help the city's image. I think it will help our chances of getting the Olympics. People around the world admire Barack Obama, and he is not just an ambassador for the United States, but for the city, as well. I think it makes us a city of the world."